trip summary.

i think i shall pen this summary for the trip as well as to review certain places and stuff in the few countries that i wud be helpful for ppl who travel there in future.

we began by taking a coach from Singapore to Hatyai, Thailand (South)
Golden Mile Complex
This place is the centralised venue for bookings of coachs as well as tour packages to mostly malaysia. coachess run from singapore to furthest hatyai, thailand. companies there are mostly pleasant, but their tickets during peak period is like freebies, and you better be fast to snatch them, they haf no time for u. look out for worthy companies such as Konsortium, Sri Maju, 5Star, TransStar and of cos, Grassland.

Konsortium coach ride to hatyai
Its, some may say, a gruelsome 14 hour ride to hatyai, but if you are capable of sleeping soundly at any place, anywhere, its worth the price cut to be travelling on HAcoaches. Coach stops frequently at stops, we had prolly some 5-6 stopovers for you to pee at local 24-hour shops and stuff. just to take note, u need to haf ringgit coins with u, cause u need to pay for the toilets, which are far from humane standards. Coach ride is extremely freezing, so best is to clad yourself harshly or wadever you think will make the ride as pleasant as possible. Travel at night, so, yea, you will sleep through the long hours of travel.

Hatyai, Thailand
this place, as what my fren described to me, is cheap and is great for their markets. its another excellent stopover for many travellers. just sth to be careful, it is located in the troubled south, so just mind your steps, becareful. other than tat, food is equally cheap as in other palces in thailand, while you are also able to access some urban dining and shopping around there. there's swenson's, macdonalds, robinsons, tops supermarket, etc. airport is pleasant, toilet rather clean, simple and nice atmosphere - just take note that their staff there is really bad in speaking english, so dont hope to get around much with communication. airport is quite far from the city, so usually a cab does the job. just be also careful and tactful when exiting the airport or any tourist areas because the touting by tuktuks and taxi drivers is immense, and really buggy at times, so yup, if you are in the mood to save money, avoid them at all costs.

One-to-Go budget airlines
we haf never did research before booking the domestic flight return tickets to bangkok from hatyai, just the price was enticing enough, some singdollar 150bux per person given the peak period. overall, it was 2 good flights, which left quite promptly(there were many complains online where i read that this company is never quite on time)haha. guess im prolly lucky den. seatings, ok quite crammed, but its still bearable. planes are quite old, maintenance of it is barely lacking though. air stewardess are ok.. like how nice do you want them to look? but yea, service is ok. 1 pilot was exceptionally funny, when we touched down at bkk airport but had to wait for them to sort out some gate issues before we can alight. he said "gd day folks, we got some conflict between the airport staff and the guys from our side over the gate we are allocated, so lets just wait and see who wins" it made me feel much better waiting in the plane after tat, though it was sorted out quite quickly in the end. overall, its just a simple, no frills airline. if you want it dirt cheap, its worth considering this airline.

Suvarnabhumi Airport, Thailand
splendid futuristic looking airport. beautiful interior with sunlight gleaming through. only expereinced the domestic arrivals so cannot comment on the international ones where the old airport was a headache for travellers clearing customs. the domestic section was equally nice and grand, belts running to unload travellers' luggages were a joy to behold. toilets very clean and neat. overall, good job, but i still think it cannot compare with singapore's changi airport simply due to the efficiency of the changi staff due to english, as well as the fact that i think both are equally good, and changi is like 20 years old. it will only be clear how gd suvarnabhumi airport is 20 years down the road. but yea, shud experience this airport man!
one more thing, this airport is also very far away from the city, some 80odd km, and there's no LRT connecting the airport to city, so bus and taxi is apparently the only choice, with some travel time of 30mins-1hr. taxi is expensive, some 450baht (inclusive expressway toll, airport tax, totally running on meter) on local taxi, 150baht/pax for expressbus service. one more thing that frustrates me is that there's apparently no BUS, i mean CHEAP BUS from the airport to the city, or that i just cant communicate with the staff there to be able to find the bus stop or terminal. so yup, travel to and fro this airport is quite a hassle still, until the rail gets up, i suppose.

BANGKOK, THAILAND
perfect environment, beautiful community. apart from few black sheeps around, i believe the people in thailand are mostly really nice people, who dont go about chepaing ppl of their money, or pickpocketing(so far i have not encountered any occasions of that too, i feel rather safe in bangkok). their shopping belt spans far beyond our orchard belt, being one of the main source of tourism in recent years, most notably bargain hunting singaporeans(you can really meet frens at bkk). one most striking thing about thailand, or perhaps its just confined to bkk is that their food court insists u use coupons to buy food, so you haf to change for coupons at some centralised counter - i really dunt know the advantage of such a system.
roadside stalls are a sight to behold, may it be food, clothes, antiques, watches or anything under the sun. its what characterises the rise of thailand in recent times. do try their food at roadside stalls, as they have really great tastes, most notably the 'pork/chicken sticks' (i think its similar to satay), or grilled banana with butterscotch, or fried pumpkin/potato/yam, all at a max of 25baht one serving which is just singapore 1 dollar.
ok, if you are a singaporean shopper, most likely you will frequent siam area, as there are the juggernauts, and many little shops littered all around - though it is an expensive area relative to other shopping sites. MBK, Siam paragon, Siam centre etc are all located along that area, even if you think you wudnt buy much from there, its really still, worth a shop and experience. Do drop by Central World Centre(wolrd trade centre) as its new and running, almost as huge as vivocity if not even bigger, and its contents are almost similar to that of vivocity's so i guess i aint need to describe any further. pleasant and classy feel of shopping. Behind this siam stretch is a beautiful street (be warned you must realy be willing to walk to find this area, or at least take a taxi though its not too far off and its quite difficult to reach in the bad traffic) that houses numerous shopping centres, platinum plaza, and 2 more i dunt know that sells cheap clothes especially. has great atmosphere and buzz. worth a tour! also in that same area is pantip plaza, the sim lim of thailand. oh my, its really gigantic, much much bigger than sim lim in singapore. contents should be around the same, but its so much more happening and vibrant. there are still many other shopping complexes littered along the BTS line, such as Sogo, and another complex(i dunt really remember the name) at victory monument station.
ok, if you are finding for food, the best place is definitely chinatown area. great food environment there. however its not really accessible by train so gotta think of alternatives such as walking there.
for markets and bazaars, bangkok is also the place to be. Patpong(their red light district) night market, suan lom night market are just afew of the night bazaars that spring to life at the crack of dusk. beautiful places with much much much to shop. just be willing to walk around and begin a series of bargaining with the locals and you get sth cheap and gd! but if you wanna hold your horses for the true blue cheap market, there's always chatchucak weekend market. its seriously the king of all kings. things there are amazingly cheap, most are exact replicas of original goods, and the variety and content of the market is simply beyond description of confined space. you gotta check it out yourself. the sad thing is that suan lom and chatchuchak are the latest victims of urban development, they look set to be torn down by next year by the government to pave way for urban development. so, if you still have not experienced bangkok, do so soon!

Transportation network, bangkok
The thing that never fails to impress me whenever i am in bangkok is the BTS and MRT system that ply the busy heartland of bangkok. The trains are clean, efficient and fast. They are not overly populated at peak hour, so even with bags of goodies from your shopping hunts, you are still able to get onto the trains. (compare this to KL's below and see the vast disparity in 2 great cities) Price is almost similar to that in Singapore, but the good thing is there's a 1 day pass available for 120baht on the BTS skytrain. One key characteristic of their train systems is that they haf employed platform patrolmen who will make sure you keep to the law, not overstep the yellow line, and basically maintain order, which is good. Like what i always tell people, i think that the train system in bangkok is far better and modern than the system in singapore, its really making our aging mrt a run for its money.
However, if you are planning to get around in an even cheaper way, forget it. Buses are almost a no-no to foreigners simply because the busstops are almost invisible, just a sign that has a bus picture along the street. The sign then goes on to show the bus numbers without any destination description. Waits at the busstop for the bus will frustrate you even more because the bus drivers and conductors know nuts about your language or frail attempts at communication. i must admit this is one big area of improvement, until then, buses are out of the question literally.
Taxis are an easy way of getting around, but not realy so in bangkok with the heavy traffic. Though their taxis are comparatively cheaper than in singapore, i wud still recommend their train system unless you are heading to areas without the train network such as chinatown or khao san areas. yups.

Sam's lodge
A clean lodging with no frills. Cheap and pleasant. Its located just a 3-5 mins walk to Asoke station along the busy sukhomvit area,just across the road from Westin Grande Sukhomvit. Wireless internet access can be rode upon at the Westin lobby, so if you haf a laptop and staying at Sam's Lodge, you are in for a treat. Just across the road is also a 7-11 and another convenience store for your 24-hour needs. For food, there's equally no worry, with many roadside stalls peppering the street. for 30usd per night, its worth a consideration if you are on a budget, though i think the price will fall more during less peak period. there's also a sky balcony at the 6th floor for scenery seeking dudes, that overlooks the bangkok skyline. beautiful.

KTMB train from Hatyai to KL
I must admit that its really cheap, some 18 bux for a ride so far, some 300km. airconditioned coaches greet you depending on which class you paid for. booking can be made online easily. but let me tell you, its no joke taking trains, as the train is really slow moving and it practically drives you crazy stopping at lotsa stations along the journey. oh yes, it takes some 15-16hours from hatyai to KL on the train. sleeping on the train is quite ok, aircon may get a little cold into the night, seats are still fine, but the overhead lights in the carriages maybe a nuisance since they do not off them thru the night. be prepared to bring food and water on the train as the journey goes on, its almost impossible to get down to buy stuff, only at 1 particular station before buttersworth. but yea, we were extremely lucky to find out that we cud do so thanks to a kind msian lady who was also on the train with us. just be prepared for delays along the way, and delay for the train reaching KL. our train hit KL almost 1 hour late, with at least an apology over the PA system. it wud not haf disturbed me that morning if not for us wanting to get to twin towers early to queue up and make sure we got the tickets. we got them anyways, so haha, no complains.

KL, Malaysia
again, the stay in this wonderful place was confined to one day. visited almost the same place i visited when i went over there at the start of the year. but this time, more fruitful as i managed to get onto the 41 storey high sky bridge on the twin towers. you haf to be prepared to start queuing at the skybridge counter in the twin towers as early as 730am, or even earlier on weekends, to be able to get the limited 1400 tickets everyday for the skybridge visit. the visit up there was jst 10 minutes, very brief but free and easy.
KL's worth the walk, but i really haven explored it too much so i only haf idea about KLCC and Central market. if you want cheap goodies and clothes, head down to central market to get your goodies. its just a stop away from KLCC, the twin towers, on skytrain. KLCC is a high class shoppping area, with a beautiful 'lake' sort of attraction which it kind of semi encapsulates.
Food in the city is quite expensive, almost the same as that of singapore. but but, if you really want nice and cheap fare, you have to explore the area youself for the hunts. Just note that secret recipe, manhattan's fish market and A&W are few of the places you might wanna visit as its really cheaper compared to singapore, and available(in the case of A&W)
Shopping in KL is almost the same as that of singapore too, just that its a slightly different experience, tat's all.

Transportation network, KL
Good, efficient road network makes it easy to take taxis and buses. Buses are relatively simple and cheap i reckon, though i haf never been on one. At least its easy to communicate with the locals over the destinations of the buses, so i envision not much of a problem on that side. Taxis ply the roads easily with the smooth flowing traffic, unless in really peak hours, but just take note there are still a large large % of taxis who 'tok' customers. the best is to hail a cab and make sure it runs on meter, and when it does, its real cheap. never be willing to pay some 10/20 ringgit for a trip too short, as tat's always the offering rate those taxi touts will offer you.
Their train network is extensive, similar to our mrt. But it doesnt represent any bit of their first class city. The trains are ALWAYS packed to the brim, even in non peak hours, i haf no idea. there's either sth wrong with management, or people are sabotaging the system by making themselves seen onto at the doors and the interior cabins are empty. They even haf a recorded message about train delays due to technical faults. 26th decemeber, i was there using the train almost the whole day, and i can vouch for it that the entire day, the train was having a bad day, which i hope doesnt happen tat often. Slow, packed, messy platforms, what's more.

KTMB train from KL to Singapore
An easier and less harsh train ride of slightly lesser than 10 hours if you alight at woodland's checkpoint. even cheaper at 9bux per person at the e-plus carriage, lowest economy. things are almost the same as the KTMB train from Hatyai to KL. arrived in singapore on the scheduled timing, left KL promptly too, so not much to complain. yups, if you ever need a cheap alternative to reach KL, or from KL to SG, the ktmb train is worth a consideration. it runs some 3-6 trains plying the kl-sg route. was very lucky the trains started running again on christmas eve just in time for our 26th dec train, and everything went smoothly for the trip.

yups, and so, home i came on the 27th december at 7am singapore time.
great experience.
and oh yes, the photos can be found over here